Is a bath a necessity?

[ozzia]

I'm currently planning how our new house will be bathrooms wise. Upstairs we can either have an en suite and a small shower room or one massive room. Downstairs we can either have a lovely walk in shower but no bath or a shower over bath

I'd love 2 shower rooms upstairs and a walk in shower downstairs but that would mean no bath. We haven't got children yet but want them and we wouldn't be moving before then.

We have a bath no and I think it's been used once in 3 years
What would you do?

[mrsplum2015]

I haven't read the whole thread but I would definitely only put one bathroom upstairs.

I don't think the bath really matters that much but will be handy if you have babies under 1 (and if you have a couple close together).

2 bathrooms for a master bed and single bed seems massive overkill to me. If you want the en suite just have the upstairs bathroom as an en suite as whoever is using the single bedroom (a young child?) can walk through your room to use the facilities. We had a simialr set up in our last house and the fifth bedroom was actually a study as otherwise the bedroom space outbalanced the living space - you may find the same but I'm not sure how much living space you have downstairs.

Then you can decide whether you want the bath upstairs or downstairs and put a big shower int he other one. I'd probably bath kids downstairs as they will probably sleep down there and would be nearer the kitchen if you're popping in and out doing dinner or clearing up etc etc at the same time. (I obviously mean pop in and out to run the bath and when they have got out, not while they are in the bath if they are little ones!!)

[ozzia]

I think initially the upstairs room will be set up as a study so maybe two bathrooms is excessive for us. Just trying to make sure it isn't excessive for others really. Once we've done the loft we don't want to go back to it. Although I guess there's nothing to stop people splitting it into 2 in future or making into one (obviously cost but the options there)

[wowfudge]

One of the things that bugs when looking at floor plans is a bathroom/shower room for every bedroom. Unless you are running a B&B it's excessive and usually means the bedrooms are pokey.

[ozzia]

Because of the layout the bathrooms won't impact on bedroom sizes. If I knew how to I'd upload the architects ideas

[Millymollymama]

With three bedrooms downstairs, I agree the bath should be downstairs so it is available for these rooms. Can you not have one large bathroom in the conversion? Two is too many really and a larger, more luxurious one is better. Small bathrooms are a bit of a pain beause everything in them feels enclosed and squished in. I think you said you were having one single and a double bedroom in the loft conversion. Why? I would have one big fabulous bedroom and a fabulous bathroom, for your use. Sometimes spacious rooms are better than more smaller rooms. Also, consider using a bedroom for something else downstairs, at the moment. Unless you have loads of visitors of course. This is not really utilising the space you have for your needs. Do you have a study or a TV/sound system room for example? Do you have a laundry room? This room is vital in my house!

[Millymollymama]

Dont have a study upstairs if you can avoid it. I did this and it was too far away from the kettle! We have a study area downstairs and it is so much better. Unless you have a separate building with loo, kitchen and work space, studies are better near food and drink!

[ozzia]

Haha I'm keeping it far from the food and drink on purpose.

The master bedroom is going to be huge so that's fine, my motivation for small(er) room upstairs is children can be in with us, then move next door, then downstairs as opposed to straight far away from us.

Smaller bedroom upstairs is still 2.1m x 4.4m so not teeny tiny

[HoldenCaulfield80]

Our last house (rented) didn't have a bath and it was one of the reasons we moved. DD was outgrowing the gardening bucket we were bathing her in and she LOVE her baths! FWIW I think three bathrooms for two people is a bit much - I couldn't be bothered to clean them all each week

[Millymollymama]

That is long and narrow though. You are planning rooms for a scenario you do not yet have but I can see that having a second room upstairs is useful for a child. What will you do when child number 2 arrives? With the configuration of the house, child no 1 will have to move downstiars at some point, without you. If you all stay upstairs, what then becomes the point of 3 bedrooms downstairs? I think it is a conundrum, however, definitely have the study downstairs! You will get fed up with going up and down stairs all the time! You will!

[ozzia]

I know it's so tough to plan for the future but it's kind of what we have to do otherwise we're making a big mistake. That room can be increased in size by adding a bigger dorma later. We just don't want to bother with planning permission now when we don't need to.

Yes, child 1 would eventually move downstairs without us but I think by that point they would be 4ish so wouldn't be an issue

We have the study upstairs on our current house and I can't say it's ever been an issue in the 3 years we've been there.

[Millymollymama]

I guess I drink more coffee then!!!

[ozzia]

I like the exercise and the longer time away from the computer

I only work from home 2 days per week anyway and I have those as my 5:2 diet fasting days

[mrsplum2015]

I think what you are planning sounds great but you only want one bathroom upstairs definitely - and keep it as an en suite - forget what the architect says, your fifth bedroom is really a study (or a baby's bedroom and a baby doesn't need a bathroom).

And having the study upstairs is essential when you have school-aged DC in my experience - it has been our best set up. Mum/dad can then disappear completely out of the way to work (and further away from the noise), especially if working from home during the day when there may well be hordes of children running around on playdates!! - and by that stage all 2 or 3 DC will be sleeping downstairs so the single bedroom will be back to use as a study.

[ozzia]

Yes, that's the long long term plan we're not even ttc yet but I'm trying to be sensible about the future. Originally I was all for an en suite and shower room but now I'm happy with just an awesome shower room I think.....argh it's so hard to know

[Crosbybeach]

I'd go for an ensuite, it's great to have your own space and bathroom once there's kids around. Also a bath, I'd think twice about buying a house without a bath.

[mrsplum2015]

Even if you really stay there forever you will not need more than one bathroom between two bedrooms. The only way I can see your needs changing are as your potential children get older and you may then decide to put their living space upstairs with the study and everyone sleeps downstairs. Either way you're not going to need another bathroom and you could then use that "suite" as a teenage living area - with a sofa bed so it's also a guest bedroom with en suite bathroom.

At worst you end up extending the other bedroom with a dormer and put 2 teenage DC bedrooms up there (with you downstairs) and you can just change the access to the bathroom to make it not an en suite - they won't need one each.

[ozzia]

The master upstairs has the sea view so that will be ours long term.

I'm wondering if we have it set up as a shower room which isn't an en suite as it doesn't matter really whether people would to up to use it?! I love ours at the moment as even when we have loads of people over there is no queue for the shower

[TeddyBee]

We have fve beds and three bathrooms - it feels fine to me. Kids have a bathroom with bath to themselves, so keep loads of towels and toys and bath mats/seats in there. Then master bedroom in loft has a bath with shower over (so I can take baths of an evening but we mostly shower), then second largest bedroom has a shower en suite with an electric shower as our back up to a dead boiler and for the convenience of our lodger. That room will eventually be DD1's room and the intention is that when we are lodger free we will kick her out of it for guests, so really wanted an en suite to that room. Also means we could give an au pair their own bathroom if we ever get one. i don't think I'd bother with the suggested use of your top two rooms, I would have a lovely big single bathroom that both bedrooms could share.

[Tizwozliz]

Our main bathroom is 'compact' at 2.1 x 1.7m so it's not impossible to have a bath+shower upstairs alongside a shower room, then a walk in shower downstairs?

[ozzia]

The issue with the walk in shower how I'd like it to be downstairs is that you'd have to dig down a little which is expensive, going up means we have more flexibility to do things like that without additional cost

[dotdotdotmustdash]

I wouldn't have just and ensuite upstairs as that leaves only 1 bathroom to be shared between the upper single ( not good for that room to have no level access to a loo) and the three downstairs bedrooms. If I were you, I would go for a big shower room upstairs and a shower-over-bath downstairs. We're a family of 4 with that arrangement and it works fine for us.

[ozzia]

Yeah I think that would be nice. I guess if someone really wanted to they could extend the dorma and add an en suite